Grimlock ♥ Ultra Magnus

I've been reading this for a while, but now that I had my blind protagonists read going on, I decided to buckle down and finish.   And am I glad I did.   There's a lot that doesn't directly involve Homer, but the author's life, or events like 9/11 where the author was separated from her cat?   They all end up tying into Homer.  

Pretty much no one wanted an abandoned, half-dead kitten who would need surgery to remove his eyes.   Not until Gwen Cooper gets the call, and although she doesn't want, or need another cat, despite her long list of reasons she can't really take care of a disabled cat right now, she also feels terribly for him.   "I'll see him."

She's sure she won't take him home.  But she can't say no to Homer, at least not this time.   (Later on, she learns to use 'no' with him, and he understand what no means.   She even explains this to someone else, and says if you don't give him something - turkey in this case - and don't say no he gets confused because he doesn't think he's doing anything wrong trying to get turkey.   Or whatever else it is he's going after.)

It's easy to see why she can't say no, not only because Homer is brave and loving and charming, but because Cooper writes with such brilliance and such ease that it's impossible not to fall in love with Homer just reading about him.   My heart swelled when she took him home, even though I knew this was the whole premise of this book.   It continued from there: she pretty much talks about how she falls in love with Homer then spends a whole book just making you fall in love with Homer.   

Why did it take me so long to read this, then?  Me getting flaky and distracted.   And it got embarrassing how something would happen to Homer - good or bad - and I'd end up bawling.   It was just flat out embarrassing how many times I cried during this.   

But that's the the thing about this book.  Not only were the events incredibly moving, they were told in a way that made me feel those exact feelings that were being described.   It was as if I were with Homer along that trip he made.   And then that other one.   (There are a couple physical moves in this book.)

I'd probably have a ball reading about her other cats, but the focus was on Homer.   He was the headliner, and it wasn't hard to see why.   And it wasn't because he was blind.   It was because he was so outgoing, so sweet, so loving.   

But as to the blindness aspect, there was a lot of information here, more so than most books I've read, if only because Cooper describes how she planned on keeping Homer safe, how she suspects he viewed the world and came to the conclusions he did, and even some information on whiskers and how cats can use them to 'see', too.   There was some information just on basic cat physiology, but very little of it as the focus was on Homer himself.   It was just enough to give a real understanding of Homer and no more because it wasn't really relevant after that point.  (Perfect, really.  I got an understanding of hardships for Homer when he was in a cone after his surgery on his eyes; he couldn't walk properly, partly because he really couldn't see as he had no vision and his whiskers couldn't feel where the walls were.)

I only wish there were more to this story, or perhaps another book focusing on another of her cats.   I'd love to hear about those stories, if only to read more by such an excellent author on a topic she's clearly so enamored with.